ROCHESTER, N.Y. (July 10, 2016) – In their second meeting of the season, Orlando City B (6-6-5, 23 points) earned a scoreless draw against the defending United Soccer League champion Rochester Rhinos (7-4-5, 26 points) at Rochester Rhinos Stadium. Goalkeeper Mark Ridgers made three saves to earn his third clean sheet of the season.
“It was a hard-earned point. Rochester is arguably one of the toughest places to come in USL so I’m really pleased with the clean sheet. The boys worked their socks off tonight and grounded out a really good point on the road,” OCB Head Coach Anthony Pulis said. “We knew coming here that they had big, strong boys in forward areas. They get crosses in the box and we knew that we were going to have to defend well to get anything out of this. I was really pleased with Kyle McFadden and Craig Nitti coming in tonight. They got their opportunity and they both did well tonight.”
In their first meeting on May 22, Hadji Barry notched a brace to lead the Lions to a 2-1 victory.
Ridgers, who entered the match third in the USL and first in the Eastern Conference with 51 saves, had another strong outing. The Scotsman made a great save on a shot from 20 yards out in the 25th minute, cleanly handling a well struck ball.
The goalkeeper was the beneficiary of a slew of blocked shots by his teammates. Rochester threatened in the 36th minute, creating havoc in the Lions’ box, but was unable to find the back of the net thanks to heroic efforts from McFadden and Johnny Mendoza. Then in the 68th minute, McFadden stuck his leg out to block an open look from inside the box. Lions leading goal scorer Michael Cox did his part to keep the score level, jumping up to head the ball off the line in the 76th minute.
Zach Hayden earned his fourth consecutive start, showing Pulis’ confidence in the 24-year-old right back. Tyler Turner made his 14th appearance of the season when he came on in place of Hayden at halftime. Defenders Nitti and McFadden made their first starts since the Lions’ win over Charlotte on May 28.
Second-half substitute Marius Obekop created the Lions’ best opportunity of the match. The Cameroonian made a clever move to get past his defender before sending the ball up to Cox in the area. Cox caught up to it before it went out of play and fired a cross into the middle, but it was cleared away.
The draw gave OCB its fourth point in two games against the defending champions and earned the Lion's their eighth positive result in their last nine matches. OCB is unbeaten in its last five.
OCB faces a short turnaround, as the Lions head to Charleston to face the Battery on Wednesday, July 13. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at MUSC Health Stadium. OCB returns to Titan Soccer Complex on Sunday, July 24, when it hosts the Wilmington Hammerheads. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Tickets to all OCB home matches are available at OrlandoCityB.com or by calling 855-ORL-CITY. Follow the latest Orlando City news and updates via Facebook, Twitter,Instagram and YouTube.
Scoring Summary:
None.
Misconduct Summary:
OCB - Johnny Mendoza (Yellow Card) 24’
ROC - Wal Fall (Yellow Card) 31’
OCB - Pierre Da Silva (Yellow Card) 82’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City B - GK Mark Ridgers, D Zach Hayden (Tyler Turner 46’), Mikey Ambrose, Kyle McFadden, Craig Nitti, M Tony Rocha, Andrew Ribeiro, Johnny Mendoza, Pierre Da Silva (Marius Obekop 85’), Lewis Neal, F Michael Cox
Substitutes: GK Jake Fenlason, M Antonio Matarazzo, Richie Laryea, Alejandro Garcia, F Keegan Smith
Rochester Rhinos - GK Adam Grinwis, D Marcos Ugarte (Bradley Kamdem 57’), Sean Totsch, Wal Fall, Dominic Samuel (Michel Guilavogui 72’), M Ryan James, Kenardo Forbes, Mike Garzi (Joe Farrell 88’), Sofiane Tergou (Brandon Beresford 83’), F Christian Volesky (Steevan Dos Santos 72’), F Asani Samuels
Substitutes: GK Tomas Gomez, Andre Fortune
Details of the Game
Time: 6:05 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear
July 10, 2016
Stats:
Shots:
OCB - 4
ROC - 10
Saves:
OCB - 3
ROC - 1
Corners:
OCB - 1
ROC - 4
